Mobius and the Witch

"Where did she put it?" Jason whispers as he looks through his boxes.

"Mom."

"Yes, honey?"

"Have you seen my Spider-Man blanket?" Jason says as he stands by the door.

"It's in the attic honey," she replies, "Why?"

She can't know that I still love my blankie, Jason thought to himself as he made his way up the attic.

"Nothing, never mind."

He quietly goes up into the attic, retrieves his blanket, and comes back undetected and unnoticed. Jason kisses his baby blanket and goes back to his room to pack it in his suitcase.

Jason was finally moving out of the house, and all thanks to his new job in California. Nervous and excited, Jason felt all the emotions as he packed his belongings. The pandemic was over after three long years and Jason now had the opportunity of a lifetime to go work for his old university lecturer Dr Ododu. But the real reason he was nervous was that this was the first time in a long time that Jason was going to be living on his own.

"Breakfast kiddos," Jason's mom, Tasha yells from downstairs.

Jason closes his bag, puts it outside his door with his other bags and goes downstairs. He greets his mother with a kiss on the cheek and takes his seat at the dinner table.

"Where are the other rugrats?" his mother asks as she places a plate of pancakes on the table.

I shrug, "You know your babies, mama."

"Can't you take them with you?" she whispers.

I laugh, "No, mother, they would die without you."

Tasha laughs, "You got that right."

She walks to the foot of the stairs and yells for Jason's brothers to come downstairs before she gave them an ass-whooping. Two doors open and Jason's two younger brothers, Spencer and Zach come running down the stairs, they each kiss their mother on the cheek before they take their seats.

Tasha smiles, "Good, everyone is here."

Jason looks at his brother and he looks flushed; his curly blonde hair is a mess.

"What is wrong with you?" Jason asks.

"None of your business," Zach replies.

"Zachariah," Tasha warns as she comes back into the dining room.

"Sorry." Zach mumbles.

Tasha shares the grace and tells the boys that they can dish food for themselves. Jason starts first, he gets two pancakes and some bacon, and then he pours himself a cup of green tea.

"Jason."

Jason turns his head, and his father is walking out of the kitchen with a small box in his hand. Jamal was a dark-skinned man, along with his wife, Tasha. The McCartney were an odd bunch, as people would put it. Jason and his three younger brothers were all adopted from the same family, but they never let that get to them. They had an unbreakable bond.

"Good morning dad." Jason greets.

Jamal hands his son the box and takes a seat beside his wife. Jason looks at his parents and smiles.

"You guys didn't have to." He says with a smile.

"Go on, open it, son." Jamal encouraged.

Jason opens the box, inside is a picture of the family, taken earlier that year at a family gathering.

Jason bites the inside of his lip to stop him from crying, he notices something else in the box, and he pulls out a necklace with a wolf carved onto it and at the back, is his birthday.

"Never forget who you are, Jason. We may not look the same, but we are one, we are family." Jamal says.

Jason gets up from his seat and puts the box on the floor.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Jason says with a quivering lip.

Tasha gets up from her seat, "We are going to miss you too, baby."

Tasha takes her seat and begins to sob.

"Tasha, if you start crying, then what am I supposed to do," Jamal says as he wipes a tear from his eye.

Jason laughs and wipes his tears, "Stop it, both of you."

Spencer laughs, "Y'all are so weird."

Jason returns to his seat, "I'm going to miss you too, Spence. Look after them, okay, you're now that man of the house."

Spencer nods, "Of course, Jase."

Zachariah is quiet, he didn't want to admit or show any emotions, but he wasn't happy that his brother was leaving.

"Zach, you, okay?"

Zach sniffs and nods.

"I'm going to miss you, Zach, but I'll come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas." Jason says, "And I'll always be one call away."

Jason pats his brother on the shoulder, "Also, Spencer will be here too."

"Yeah, and mom and dad," Spencer adds,

"I don't care. Jason is the only person that understands me. None of you does." He says furiously and gets up and goes to his room.

Jason sighs, "I'll go talk to him."

Jason gets up from his chair and makes his way upstairs. He gets to his brother's door and knocks.

"Zach, can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Jason opens the door and finds Zach lying on his bed, hugging his teddy, Mr Whiskers. Jason looks around the room and notices new artwork on the walk and a brand-new mess on the floor.

"I know you're upset, Zach, and I don't blame you. I would be too, but I have to do this, for you and Spencer." Jason explains.

Zach sits up and sighs, "Why can't you work here in Atlanta? Keep looking for work."

"Zach, you know I've tried but nothing came up. Mom and dad won't be able to look after us forever, bud, and I thought you liked California."

Zach nods, "Yes, I do."

"So, think of this as me paving a way for you to come live in California. So that when you come to college, it'll be easier for you to start your life." Jason says.

Zach looks at his brother, "I guess you're right."

Jason stands up and opens his arms, "Come here."

Zach gets out of his bed and hugs his older brother.

"I love you, Zach, and remember that I'm always here for you no matter what."

"I love you too, Jase."

Jason kisses the top of Zach's head.

Ever since Zach came out of the closet as bisexual, life has been difficult for him. He's being bullied at school; he's been struggling to make friends and being at an all-boys school doesn't help him either. Tasha and Jamal were also having their struggles with it, but they were doing the best they could to be supportive of Zach. Jason became a safeguard for Zach, always there to talk to him and support him, they became close and almost inseparable.

"You're going to be okay, Zach," Jason says, "Don't let the world stop you from being you. Be loud and proud."

Zach smiles, "Thank you, Jason."

"Now let's go back downstairs, and then you can drive me to the airport."

Zach's smile turns into a grin, "With your car?"

Jason nods, "And then you can keep it."

"Yes!" Zach screams.

"Only if you apologize to mom and –

Jason doesn't even get to finish his sentence; Zach is already downstairs gloating to Spencer.

Everyone downstairs yells simultaneously, "You gave him the car."

Jason laughs, and he goes downstairs to extinguish the flames.